


Gone to LA

by Pigeonsplotinsecrecy



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: But here it is, Concerned Carlos, Hurt TK Strand, Judd Ryder & TK Strand Are Siblings, Kidnapping, M/M, Owen is a concerned father, TK makes some bad choices, This was not how it was supposed to be, Weird pacing, carlos wants to help his bf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:27:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24458935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pigeonsplotinsecrecy/pseuds/Pigeonsplotinsecrecy
Summary: TK's abusive ex pops back into his life and only causes harm
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 4
Kudos: 172





	Gone to LA

They’d just gotten back from a crazy call that had caused them to have to help a man who had accidentally glued his hands together. The man hadn’t been in danger, but with how much he was panicking, it had taken a lot of talking to get him calm enough to separate his hands. T.K. shook his head, still thinking about the incident an hour later when they were taking a break on the couches. “The weirdest things happen in Texas.”

Judd shrugged. “It could be worse.”

“How?” Paul asked with a laugh.

“Weirder things happen in LA,” Judd commented, and T.K. couldn’t believe that was possible. They’d dealt with all kinds of odd situations that he’d never had to deal with in New York. New York was wild in its ways, but it wasn’t Austin wild. Austin was just quirky enough that it combined city, rural, and unique problems in a big jumbled of chaos.

“I can’t believe that,” Marjan replied. “It doesn’t get weirder than Texas.”

“You should hear things my buddy in LA tells me about. They’re next level insane.”

“I believe it,” Mateo said. “LA is weird.”

Judd shook his head, “All those people with big dreams get themselves in trouble.”

“I would like LA,” Marjan decided.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Paul said with a grin. “You love the spotlight too much not to love LA.”

“Yeah, but having to put up with all those wannabe actors? That’s a real pain.” Judd couldn’t fathom living in LA full time. To him, it was just a place to visit. He and his wife had gone there just a few months before to see his buddy, Jason, who was an LA firefighter at the 118, and it had been nice, but he couldn’t imagine calling it home.

“I have an ex in LA to be an actor. The classic LA story.”

“Is he the asshole who broke your heart?” Judd asked with a snarl, and T.K. thought it was kind of nice to have someone who cared about him enough to be angry on his behalf.

“Not _that_ asshole who broke my heart. This one is a different one, way worse than Alex,” T.K. explained, but he kept his tone light because he didn’t need anyone guessing how bad Luke had been. Not even his dad knew the gruesome details, which was mostly because Owen would have lost it if he knew. Then, so nobody would twist what worse meant, T.K. said, “It wasn’t that bad. He and I were a little toxic together. We fought a lot.” T.K. couldn’t forget the shouting matches. All things considered, those hadn’t been that bad. The prolonged silence after the fights had always been what drove T.K. crazy. Even the few times things had gotten physical hadn’t felt as maddening as the times Luke would act like T.K. didn’t even exist until T.K. practically begged for forgiveness and repeated how sorry he was.

“Are you talking about Luke?” Owen said from behind, startling T.K. “I didn’t know you two had so many issues. You told me that you just fizzled out.” Owen had always liked Luke, which had been a shock given that Owen usually had impossibly high standards of the men his son dated. Carlos had met all those standards so far.

“We did. It wasn’t a big deal, but by the end, we had some issues. Normal couple stuff.” Yeah, _normal._ Because losing yourself in another person was completely normal. “Come on, we have to get back to work. Enough Luke talk.”

Judd punched T.K.’s shoulder lightly, “Since when do you like workin’ more than talking about yourself?”

T.K. forced a smile. “Come on, big guy, you know there’s nothing I love more than working hard.”

Judd guffawed. “Whatever you say, city boy.”

T.K. hadn’t thought about Luke in years, but now that he was thinking about him, he couldn’t stop thinking about him, and when T.K. couldn’t stop thinking about something, trouble wasn’t far behind.

* * *

T.K. didn’t know why he did it, but Luke had been on his mind for the past week, and while he’s in Carlos’ bed, he’s thinking about Luke. Not like he wants to get back with Luke, but he was still thinking about him more than he should. The relationship had ended so suddenly that he’d never really gotten closure. All he knew was that Luke had up and left him, heading to LA, claiming that he was sick of T.K.’s neediness. For months after that, Luke had sent nasty messages anytime T.K. had gotten close to any man (even just friends). He never got the memo that T.K. stopped being his. T.K. had blocked his number and all his social media accounts, but then, after wondering what happened to Luke, he made the stupid choice of unblocking him.

He looked at Luke’s new life. He saw pictures of him with what looked to be a new boyfriend, a cute blond, and he wondered how Luke treated his new guy. Maybe he had changed. Maybe T.K. had always been the problem in the relationship. Luke’s new boyfriend looked so happy, which made T.K. wonder if every cruel word and every altercation were because of one of his deficiencies. It scared him to think that maybe Luke was just a nice guy who T.K. had brought the worst out of. Carlos was too nice to hurt T.K., but T.K. still felt like maybe he was ruining Carlos’ life. He had a way of destroying people by just sticking around.

Carlos rolled over in the bed to see what T.K. was doing, “Who is that?” Carlos doesn’t look jealous, but T.K. can hear a tinge of jealousy in his voice.

“My ex.”

“ _That’s_ Alex.” Carlos sounded impressed. “That’s not how I pictured him.”

“No, Luke. The ex before Alex.” Alex didn’t look like he could snap T.K. in half, and that’s probably why T.K. had liked him. What he’d liked when he first met Luke seemed less ideal after the breakup.

“What’s got you looking him up after all this time?”

“I’ve just been thinking about him a lot lately. I’d forgotten about him for a while, and then the memories came flooding back, and they’re mostly shitty, but some of them are good.”

“Why’d you break up?”

“He wanted to move to LA, and I didn’t want to.” That was the short story. T.K. had nearly gone. He’d nearly given in to Luke’s demands, but he loved New York, and he wasn’t ready to give it up. He’d told Luke no, and of course, Luke had thrown a fit, and it was the worst fight they’d ever had. T.K. promised that they could make it work long-distance, but Luke had scoffed at him and said that T.K. wasn’t worth the effort of a long-distance relationship. Then, Luke was gone, but he wasn’t forgotten. He kept popping in the instant it seemed like T.K. might be moving. T.K. had been devastated. He’d started using drugs again. He didn’t know who he was without Luke, and several times, he nearly hopped on a plane to give everything up for Luke.

“Oh, so one of those situations where no one was in the wrong, the circumstances just weren’t right?”

“That’s what I thought at the time, but he wasn’t a very good boyfriend in retrospect.”

Carlos nodded. “It’s easy to be blinded by love.”

“I just wanted someone to love me. I didn’t care that he belittled me and messed with my head. He made me think that I was the problem, and I believed it because I was used to being a problem at that point.” He’d caused nothing but trouble for his parents growing up when they already had enough to worry about. T.K. looks away from Carlos. “He was a control freak. He used to tell me what I should and should wear. He wouldn’t let me see certain friends. He acted like he had a say over every little thing in my life, and honestly, I didn’t care. It was easier to let someone else tell me what to do and who to be than to risk being someone he couldn’t love. It’s so stupid, but my head was so warped back then.”

Carlos rubbed a comforting hand against T.K.’s back. “I’m sorry that happened to you.” Carlos laid a string of kisses on T.K.’s neck, delicate and sweet.

T.K. took Carlos’ hand, and he has Carlos’ fingers trace a scar on T.K.’s wrist. “That’s from when he broke my wrist and I had to have surgery on it. It didn’t heal very well.” Whenever they fought, Luke would grab T.K.’s hurt wrist and squeeze to make his point. “But the thing is, I thought I deserved that kind of treatment, and honestly, I kind of liked it. It felt like a way to be punished for all my mistakes.” T.K. knew that what Luke had done hadn’t been right, but he had never felt like it was unwarranted. At least he knew where he stood with Luke— a waste of space who sometimes came in handy.

“No one deserves to be abused,” and the word abused hit T.K. like a punch. For years, he had danced around that very word. Logically, he knew that abuse was the name of what Luke had done to him, but he’d never been able to say it or accept that that’s what it was.

“It’s not as bad as I’m making it sound.” He felt stupid for bringing it up like he was being too sensitive about something that had happened so long ago. He was always so sensitive. He felt like an exposed nerve constantly being poked at.

“He broke your arm!” Carlos’ voice is sharp and angry, and it scares T.K. more than he’d like to admit. “I’m sorry,” Carlos is quick to say. “What he did to you just makes me angry.” Carlos had experience with domestic violence, and T.K. hated that he was triggering those memories.

“It’s okay,” T.K. replied. “I know it hits close to home for you.” Carlos’ ex-stepfather had been abusive to his mother. Carlos had been a teenager at the time, and he had told T.K. about how much that relationship impacted him. The abuse had been one of the reasons Carlos had wanted to become a cop. To protect people in ways he’d been unable to help his mother.

“You never mentioned it before.”

“Not even my dad knows about this,” T.K. confessed. “It’s embarrassing.”

Carlos ran a hand through T.K.’s hair. “Someone else being awful to you is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I just let people in too fast sometimes. Not with you, but I become a different person in relationships. Usually one I don’t like.” T.K. was fine, at least that’s what he told himself, but he remembered being Luke’s boyfriend. He remembered going to parties he hated and doing drugs that weren’t the one he wanted just because Luke thought that E was cooler than Oxy. He changed his clothes. He even cut his hair because Luke didn’t like it too long.

“We can take it as slow as you want,” Carlos promised, but it was too late. T.K. had already fallen hard, and there was a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach about everything. He shouldn’t have thought about Luke. He shouldn’t have unblocked him. T.K. knew that he needed to go back to his social media and block Luke again to close off that part of his life once again, but for some self-destructive reason, he didn’t do that. Instead, he goes into Instagram when Carlos had fallen asleep, and he typed a message saying, “Hey.”

* * *

T.K. had been talking to Luke for three weeks, and he hadn’t meant to do anything but get a little closure. He wanted to ask why Luke left. He wanted to know why Luke didn’t fight for their relationship. He wanted to know why Luke thought it was okay to hurt him. Luke was a narcissist, so T.K. should have known that he was never going to get any answers, but the adrenaline rush of messaging Luke had done something to him. It made him feel strong and brave, and like he was finally taking his power back. Though, of course, Luke, with his charm and persuasion, somehow wormed his way back into T.K.’s life. They were friends sort of now, and Luke had been so nice, making T.K. wonder if maybe the drugs and their youthfulness had been the causes of the toxicity.

Luke’s friendliness made T.K. wonder if Luke was different now. If he was nice to his new boyfriends. He wondered if maybe Luke hadn’t been the problem. Maybe it really was T.K. all along, and the twisted thinking crept up on T.K., and just like that, he’d let his abuser back into his life. Not because he was dumb or naïve. For whatever reason, he wanted to believe reality was different than it was. And maybe it was a little self-sabotage. He wanted

But then, Luke went silent, and T.K. felt stupid for all of it. He shouldn’t have been talking to Luke in the first place, but also, the sinking feeling in his stomach when Luke doesn’t answer says a lot about how much he still cares about what Luke thinks about him.

Above all, T.K. felt guilty because while he has no romantic intentions when it comes to Luke, it’s not fair to Carlos that he’s been talking to his ex, and he was ashamed that he was talking to someone who had caused him so much pain. What kind of masochistic idiot does that?

T.K. would never admit how much Luke’s silence bothered him, even after all the years that had passed. He couldn’t help but repeatedly check Instagram to see if Luke had somehow answered in the seconds since the last time he had checked. He wondered if he had done something wrong. He didn’t think that he had. Maybe he’d talked about Carlos too much. Luke thought that it was weird that he talked about Carlos so much, and he’d tell T.K. that he didn’t care to talk about Carlos, which made sense, T.K. supposed. Ex-boyfriends didn’t love talking about current boyfriends

T.K. needed to get Luke out of his mind, and the best way to do that was by calling Carlos. He needed to focus on the man who mattered and stop letting his shitty ex get in his head. He punched in Carlos’ number and was relieved when Carlos answered after two rings.

“T.K.?” Carlos asked, sounding sleepy. “Are you okay?” It was midnight, and Owen was staying over at Zoe’s, so T.K. was a bit lonely.

“Yeah, I just wanted to talk,” he said. “Were you sleeping.”

“No,” Carlos replied, and T.K. thought that he was lying just to be nice.

“Sorry,” T.K. shouldn’t have called. “I’m going to go.”

“What’s wrong?” It was just like Carlos to not let T.K. run away from his feelings. T.K. loved that about Carlos. He needed someone to make him face his feelings.

“I don’t know. I guess I’ve been in a weird mood.”

“Do you need me to come over?”

“No, I just wanted to hear your voice I guess.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

There’s a knock at the door, and it startled T.K. “Hold on, there’s someone here.” He looked over the door and saw a familiar face peering in, which made T.K.’s heart skip a beat.

“It’s my ex,” he told Carlos, hoping to keep his voice calm. He didn’t want Carlos thinking that anything was wrong.

“Which one?’

“Luke.”

“What the fuck is he doing there? He lives in LA<”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m coming over. Don’t answer the door.”

“It’s fine. He’s harmless.”

“Not from what you’ve told me.”

There’s more pounding. “T.K. I know you’re in there. I just want to talk,” he heard Luke say.

“T.K., do not open that door.”

“He won’t leave if I don’t,” and it was true. Luke was a stubborn son of a bitch.

“I’m leaving my house now. Do you need me to call the police? Or will you be okay until I get there.”

“I’m fine, Carlos.”

“That bastard didn’t come to your house at this hour to play nice. It’s stalkerish and weird that he even came at all.”

“I handled him for two years. Don’t make a fuss. I have to go. I’ll call you back when he’s gone, okay?”

“Don’t hang up.”

“I’ll call you right back.”

“T.K.—” but it was too late, T.K. had already hung up.

* * *

Carlos rushed down the highway, cursing T.K. for never listening to anything that he said. There was a bad feeling in his gut, one influenced by years of his mom’s ex being a possessive abuser who didn’t even want to let Carlos in her life. Those years had been dark, but during them, he learned how abusers acted. Like pieces of shit who thought that people were little more than toys.

The drive was too long, and as he got stoplight after stoplight, Carlos wished he’d called the cops. Maybe he was overreacting, but it was fucking weird that a boyfriend from years ago would come to Texas just to pop in for a late-night visit. T.K. was acting weird lately, and Carlos knew it was Luke’s influence. He also knew that T.K. had been messaging Luke. He saw the way T.K. shielded his phone more often and he’d seen the name pop up on T.K. screens more than made him comfortable. Carlos wasn’t an insecure man. He didn’t think that T.K. was cheating or even thinking about cheating, and he hadn’t wanted to try to tell T.K. who he could and couldn’t talk to, but Luke was someone who Carlos didn’t want T.K. to talk to.

Maybe he should have said something earlier. He’d been trying to be respectful of T.K.’s boundaries so that he wouldn’t come off as just another controlling asshole because he didn’t want to be like T.K.’s other boyfriends, or his mom’s. He didn’t want to be jealous and treat T.K. like he had no autonomy. T.K. was a grown man, and Carlos couldn’t try and didn’t want to control him. But just this once, Carlos wished he could make T.K. see sense instead of going on another self-destructive crusade.

Carlos didn’t bring his gun. He should have brought his gun, but he hadn’t wanted to escalate the situation and he certainly didn’t want to be tempted to shoot Luke out of pure rage at what he had done to T.K. T.K. hadn’t said a lot about his abuse. He hadn’t even been able to use the words abuse, but Carlos knew what kind of monster Luke was, and it made his blood boil.

He got to T.K.’s house and rushed up the pathway only to find an open door. “Fuck,” he couldn’t help but say. He didn’t think before walking into the house and calling T.K.’s name. He felt his breathing constrict when he saw a vase on the floor and small splatters of blood. T.K. was gone, and Carlos couldn’t be sure what Luke was going to do to him. Or what he’d already done.

* * *

The last thing Owen expected was getting a call at 1 am from Carlos Reyes, but when he saw the name on his screen, he immediately knew something was wrong with T.K., and when that was confirmed, he felt a special parental panic run through him. He pulled up to his house and cops were already there, Carlos talking to some of them.

“What the hell happened?” Owen demanded.

Carlos whipped around to face Owen a guilty look on his face. “His ex-boyfriend came here and took him, or…” Carlos didn’t finish, but Owen knew he was already worrying that T.K. might be dead.

“What? Alex?”

“No, Luke.”

“Luke? They dated years ago. He was already so nice.” That same guilty look flickered on Carlos’ face. “What do you know?”

“He was abusive.”

Owen couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Luke had been one of the sweeter boyfriends that T.K. had. He was always going out of his way to do considerate things. “What are you talking about? He was… T.K. would have…” This couldn’t be happening. T.K. had been through enough, and Owen couldn’t stand thinking that his kid had been through anything else. It just couldn’t be possible.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Carlos offered.

“How do you know it was Luke.”

“I was on the phone with T.K. when he showed up. I told him not to answer the door until I got here, but he didn’t listen… and I didn’t get here in time.”

Owen couldn’t help but put a reassuring hand on Carlos’ shoulder. He looked so young and heartbroken. “It’s not your fault. But I need you to tell me everything you know.” He needed to get his son back, and he was going to do anything in his power to do that.

* * *

“Where are we going, Luke?” It was three am and they’d been on the road for a while. T.K. had been drifting in and out of sleep. His head hurt from where Luke had hit him, and T.K. felt like the biggest idiot in the world. He should have listened to Carlos. He never should have let Luke back in. Why did he let Luke back in?

“Don’t be so uptight. I drove over twenty-hours to see you, baby.” _Baby_ , hearing that from Luke made T.K. sick. Luke had always called him that when he wanted to apologize and wanted T.K. to feel like the one in the wrong.

“I want to go home.”

“I’m taking you home with me.” T.K. knew he had fucked up this time, and for the first time in his life, he worried that this would be the thing that would get him killed.

“I don’t want to go anywhere with you.” He wanted to jump out of the car and run, but they were on the highway, and his door was locked with only Luke being able to control it.

“Come on, T.K., we’re meant for each other.” Luke tried to keep a happy face, acting like the whole situation was normal, but T.K. knew how he worked. His temper would heat up soon, and T.K. was always too stupid to avoid poking at the grizzly bear.

“It’s been three years.” He knew how to choose them. Before Carlos, T.K. hadn’t picked a single good boyfriend. Of them all, Luke had been the worst.

“You’re the one who unblocked me.”

“I didn’t want to get back together.”

“Yeah? Then why did you answer my messages?” T.K. still couldn’t answer that one.

“Don’t you have a boyfriend.” T.K. countered.

“He’s not you.”

“You’re such a jerk.” Luke gripped the steering wheel and T.K. felt himself stiffen. They were getting into dangerous territory, and T.K. felt an instinctual fear grip him.

“I’d be careful with what you say, baby.” T.K. wanted to punch Luke’s stupid, smug face.

“I’m sorry,” he said without meaning to. Luke said nothing in response.

“Did you hear me?” T.K. tried again. Still, nothing from Luke and the quiet made T.K. itch, so he reached to turn up the radio. Luke turned it down so that all noise was muted. “I’m sorry,” T.K. said again when the silence lingered. Luke never shut up except when he knew it would drive T.K. crazy. “Fine, you bastard, be quiet.” T.K. prepared himself for a slap, but Luke didn’t even flinch. He knew what T.K. wanted. Being yelled at, being hit. That was a lot less painful than not even being looked at.

* * *

It had been thirty-four hours since T.K. was missing, and Judd felt like punching something. Everyone had gathered at his house, trying to figure out what to do, and Grace was keeping them all fed and hydrated, but they were all exhausted and just wanted to know something, but few leads had turned up. They knew the culprit, and they had good reason to believe that Luke might’ve been taking T.K. to California, LA probably, but they couldn’t be sure of that or even that T.K. was still alive. None of them were going to accept that T.K. was dead. That just wasn’t something they could afford to think about, but it was a fear in the back of all their minds.

Owen was drinking his eighth cup of coffee and pacing, and Judd wasn’t sure how to make him feel any better. Judd felt helpless and just wanted to get T.K. back where he belonged. The kid had been through enough and Owen shouldn’t have had to worry about something like this.

Carlos came rushing into the room from where he’d been taking a phone call from one of his coworkers. He looked frantic still, but there was relief on his face. “A security caught Luke and T.K. just outside of LA.”

“He’s alive?” Owen asked, looking like a small weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

“As far as we know,” Carlos replied, and Judd knew that voice, the one of trying not to get anyone’s hopes up.

“You know what this means?” Judd asked, taking charge of the situation.

“What does it mean?” Grace asked, clearly knowing her husband was scheming.

“It’s time that we take a trip to LA.” Going to LA probably wouldn’t do them a lot of good, Judd knew that but it would make Carlos and Owen feel like they were doing something productive, and then, they’d also be close by if anything new happened. Maybe it was an impulsive choice but getting closer to T.K. was exactly what they all needed.

* * *

The doors were all locked, and T.K. wasn’t sure where he’d been taken, but he knew that this wasn’t a house. It was a prison, and with Luke’s face plastered all over the news and on social media, T.K. knew that Luke was going to be careful, making the potential of escape very slim. T.K. wasn’t tied up at least. Probably because Luke wanted it to feel like they were together. T.K. could use that to his advantage. But he needed to get out of this room. There wasn’t much more than a bed, a dresser, and a bathroom that was just as basic. T.K. didn’t know how to pick a lock or knock down a bolted door, so he focused his attention on the window, which was sealed closed and barred. He sighed. He definitely couldn’t get through those bars. _Fuck._

He was trapped, and he cursed himself for not being smarter. Maybe if he were smarter, or at least book smart, he could find a way out of this situation. He felt like a helpless idiot. He’d felt like that for a long time, starting with Luke and carrying over to Alex. He had a bad tendency to rely on other people too much. He let other people define him and how he felt about himself. He knew it wasn’t healthy, but sometimes, he didn’t know how to be his person outside of other people.

He wasn’t helpless, he reminded himself. He could take charge of this situation. Luke couldn’t define him anymore. Neither could Alex. Or Carlos. Or his dad. T.K. had to protect himself now and find a way to work this situation to his advantage. He’d been through plenty of bad situations in his life. He’d nearly died more than he wanted to admit. He could do this. He just needed to figure out a plan or hope for a stroke of luck.

* * *

Marjan had signed up for the “let’s go to T.K. road trip” without a second thought. They hadn’t even waited to pack any bags. They’d just gotten in the car and let the road carry them to their destination, taking turns driving the two cars that they’d chosen to use. Marjan was driving now, and they were just four hours from LA. She had always loved California, but under these circumstances, she hated it. She dreaded all the things that could go wrong when they got there, but she had to keep her head up.

She looked at Mateo beside her and Paul in the back seat, and they were her family. They all just wanted to bring T.K. home so that their family could be complete again. She prayed that T.K. would be alright and that somehow things could finally go back to normal.

* * *

T.K. ran out into the street with no shoes and no tattered shirt. He had cuts that were bleeding and bruises that would burst into color soon, but he was intact, and he needed to find help. He ran down the street, trying to get the cars to stop. He had fought his way out of that room, and he didn’t know if Luke was close behind him, but he didn’t want to find out, so he kept running, hoping that a car would eventually pull over and help him. He was so tired, but he was using his adrenaline to push him through. He could crash later.

He’d decided that he would ambush Luke the next time he came into the room. So T.K. had readied a weapon from a piece of wood he’d taken from the dresser. He’d waited for the right moment and had planned Luke with it. His plan had not gone with error, though. They’d ended up in a scuffle, and T.K. was pretty sure that at the very least he had a concussion and some broken ribs, but he was alive, and if he had anything to say about it, he’d stay alive.

He kept running down the street, feeling like a crazed person. It was no wonder no one wanted to help him. He had a wild look in his eyes and looked like he would bring danger, which was probably true. T.K. always seemed to attract danger.

He couldn’t feel Luke, but he was paranoid that Luke was just behind him.

* * *

Bobby Nash awoke to a pounding at the door. It was early in the morning, so it was a shock, to say the least. Athena stirred next to him. “Who the hell came over here this early?”

Bobby shrugged. “I’ll check it out. Maybe Buck lost his keys again,” he added with a laugh.

Athena shook her head fondly. “That boy can’t seem to stay out of trouble,” her tone was harsh, but Bobby knew that she had a soft spot for Buck. Buck had a way of worming into people’s hearts.

Bobby tiredly went to the door, Buck’s spare key in hand. He dropped the key when he saw a bloody, ragged young man at his door.

The man was frantic and sounded disoriented. “I need to call 9-1-1. He’s after me, and I don’t know how much time I have before he finds me. Please, help me.”

Athena had come up from behind Bobby, having put on a robe. “What’s going on?”

“I need to use your phone.”

“Sir,” Athena said calmly. “I need you to be calm and tell me what happened.” The man looked around, looking panicked.

“My ex kidnapped me, and I don’t know where I am, but he’s going to try to get me back.”

“What’s your name?” Bobby admired how calm Athena was in these situations.

“T.K. Strand.”

“That’s the kid on the news,” Bobby commented, remembering a guy on another shift saying that his friend from Texas had a coworker go missing. Bobby gave T.K. a once over. “He needs to go to the hospital.”

T.K.’s eyes grew wide at that. “No, no I can’t. That’ll be the first place he’d looked.”

Athena put a hand on his arm, her voice softer than usual. “I’ll make sure you’re protected. We’re not going to let you go in alone. Come on in, and we’ll get dressed, and then we can go to the hospital.”

Athena showed T.K. to the couch, she told Bobby to tend to him while she got dressed and called what had happened into her station.

* * *

They’d barely been in LA for three hours when Owen got the call that T.K. had been found. He rushed into the hospital, Carlos close behind him, terrified at the thought of having to see T.K. in a hospital bed once again. He rushed into the room, being guarded by police officers, to see T.K. pale but conscious in a hospital bed. A man around Owen’s age was sitting next to T.K. and rose when he saw Owen.

The man put out his hand. Owen shook it. “I’m Bobby Nash. I found your son. Well, he found me.”

“Thank you for sitting with him,” Owen said, already taking a seat by T.K.

“Of course,” Bobby said and then shook Carlos’ hand as well before Bobby left to give them some space.

“Dad,” T.K. called throwing his arms around his father and wincing.

“Careful, kid,” Owen gave a smile, ruffling T.K.’s hair. He watched as Carlos leaned down to kiss T.K., soft and slow, and felt his heart warm as T.K. gave one hand to Owen and the other to Carlos.

“The rest of the team will be in a little later,” Owen told his son.

“They’re here?” T.K. said with a yawn.

Owen nodded. “Everyone’s here.”

“Good,” T.K. says, his shoulders sagging from their previously tense posture. “Did they find Luke yet.”

Owen sighed. “Not yet, but we won’t let anything happen to you.”

T.K. looked to Owen and then Carlos, “I know.” Then, he fell asleep.

* * *

When T.K. finally got home, he already was starting to feel physically better, but he couldn’t stand to be alone anymore. They had found Luke within twenty-four hours, but even just the sound of a knocking at the door could make T.K.’s heart race. By four months after the kidnapping, he thought that he should have felt better. He’d been seeing a therapist and had the world’s best support system, but he still felt like a nervous wreck. He’d nearly relapsed on oxy and could barely sleep. He was snappy with Carlos and couldn’t work. Owen reassured him that these things take time to get better, but T.K. didn’t want to wait. He just wanted to get over it and stop feeling like he wanted to cry all the time.

He was in bed with Carlos, and T.K. felt so guilty for not being able to engage in their relationship in the way that Carlos probably wanted. “I’m sorry I’ve been a shitty boyfriend lately.”

Carlos put down the book he was reading and turned over to T.K. “You haven’t been.”

“I’m like a zombie.” He couldn’t be present because his head was still stuck in the past. Carlos leaned over and gave T.K. a sweet kiss.

“You’re getting better.”

“I’m taking forever.”

“These things take time.”

“Did you steal that from my dad?”

Carlos shook his head. “No, but your dad is a wise man.”

“I just thought that things would be easier once I was finally home.”

“You’ve been through a lot of trauma, so there’s no easy fix. If there was, I’d do anything to give it to you.” Carlos knew that all he could do was be there for T.K., and it was hard not doing more, but T.K. just needed time to heal and the space he needed to do so.

“Why do you still like me? I’m the worst person to be around.”

“You’re not. You’re just anxious and full of emotions. I have been too. I yelled at you yesterday for eating the last piece of pizza, and it wasn’t because I was mad about the piece of pizza. It’s just been hard lately, and it isn’t your fault. It’s just something that is.”

T.K. felt guilty for the whole endeavor. “I should have listened to you. I shouldn’t have contacted Luke. I was an idiot who ruined things by not using my head.”

Carlos gave T.K. a sorrowful look. “The only one to blame is the person who hurt you.”

T.K. sighed. “Maybe someday I’ll believe that.” For now, he’d feel like shit for just a little while longer.

**Author's Note:**

> Catch me at Lonestarbabe on Tumblr. This story was really weirdly done, but sometimes it's got to be like that.


End file.
